Over 50 participants from different local and national YMCA realities registered and followed the inputs from 7 speakers and presenters who shared their vision and best practices.
- To develop income generating and fundraising capacity in the actual context social-economic context;
- To learn about Income generating strategies for YMCAs at local, national and international levels;
- Sharing of best practices;
- To create a network of experts in this field.
President Emma Osmundsen opened the event and referred to the new YMCA Europe´s Strategy, presently on its last stages of consultation before being presented at the General Assembly.
Emma highlighted the objectives of the Conference in the frame of the actual social and economic context affecting Europe and therefore our movement.
Our Secretary General Juan Simoes Iglesias introduced the session on “Financial Sustainability and Mission Impact” with open questions about potential strategies and innovative services that YMCAs could develop at all levels.
It was a privilege to have two keynotes with concrete responses.
- Bob Gilbertson, President & CEO of YMCA World Urban Network spoke about diversification of revenue in the YMCA context and shared examples about stress testing budgets for planning and resilience.
- Pedro Fueyo, National General Secretary of YMCA Spain focused on the key pillars to prepare YMCAs in order to attract financial support by positioning the association to better access institutional and private funding.
The programme followed with an interactive panel introduced and moderated by Vardan Hambardzumyan, Executive Secretary of YMCA Europe. Three different examples of successful business models within the YMCA frame were presented.
Specific questions on this field and their models were answered by
- Jacob Jensen, Office Manager of Unitas travel (YMCA Denmark),
- Robert Feith representing Ernst Sillem Hoeve hotel (YMCA Netherlands) and
- Adrian Davis from YMCA Kosovo sharing about the Charity Shops and other income generating projects.
Our Treasurer Silvia Lazaridis introduced the Chair of the Board of YMCA Europe´s George Williams Fund and former President Ed Eggink who spoke about the “lessons learned” from the previous fundraising campaigns led by YMCA Europe and the building up of the existing endowment funds as a way to strengthen our capacity and the delivery of our mission.
President Emma Osmundsen closed the conference announcing the creation of a network across Europe with the active participation of experts in the topics raised during the conference.
Emma thanked all presenters and participants for their commitment and involvement in such a relevant topic for our movement.
You can find all the presentations here.
